Bomb scare closes dock terminal

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A bomb scare brought one of Melbourne's largest dock terminals
to a halt yesterday, stopping operations for several hours as
hundreds of workers were sent home.

At least 200 staff were evacuated from the P&O Trans
terminal and neighbouring sites at West Swanson Dock after
stevedores discovered a written bomb threat while unloading a
shipping container.

Terminal manager Roy Cummings said workers opened the container
- from Hamburg, Germany - early yesterday morning and found the
threat, stuck to the inside of the door.

He said the message read: "Container has a bomb", and appeared
to have been written by someone who had poor English skills.

Employees were immediately evacuated to an area away from the
container and remained there for an hour before they were told to
go home.

It is believed to be the first time in recent memory that a
security scare has caused such a large evacuation of the ports
area.

Mr Cummings said officers from the police bomb squad inspected
the container before taking it away to be X-rayed by customs.

No explosive device was detected and the threat was deemed a
hoax. The terminal did not reopen until mid-afternoon.

"We have contacted our customers and explained what has happened
and why there are delays," Mr Cummings said. "This will cost
everybody money but there is nothing you can do about it;
obviously, the safety of our employees and surrounding people is
paramount."

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer criticised security levels at
the Port of Melbourne, saying it was one of the most vulnerable in
Australia.